Holden Caulfield Character Analysis

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a rather unique character. He has several complications with other characters that he runs into, and does not seem that he is able to relate to anyone. However, Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe, and he seems to connect with her in a way that he does not with anyone else. She is only ten years old, so she and Holden both have a childlike mind. On the other hand, Phoebe seems to have a positive outlook on life while Holden sees most things in a negative light. Another contrast between them is that Phoebe puts in effort at school, and Holden is clearly not concerned his performance at school.

    Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher In The Rye, feels that he needs to protect people around him, because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that he has to care for those close to him. He watches over Jane, Phoebe, and even Mrs. Murrow when he meets her on the train. Holden tries to shield these people from distress. He does not want to fail anyone else.

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden, a teenager facing many issues with life, is introduced. His sister, Phoebe, is very important to Holden. Holden finds her smart and funny, contrasting to how he views the phonies all around him. She helps Holden understand his problems and why he needs to change his outlook on life. Phoebe inspires Holden to face his problems of loneliness and failure, which leads him to take action and change the way he deals with life.

Adolescence, this is a time where you figure out who you truly are. This soul searching leads to self realization. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger, has trouble accepting himself. Throughout his days he would put on a cap just to be someone else. It is his get away place, a place of isolation. A way for him to seclude from the world and become someone he isn’t. This is relatable to numerous teens. Though Holden could be described using numerous adjectives, Holden's character can be perfectly described as ignorant, a liar, and a slacker. He is ignorant because he does not learn from his mistakes. He is a compulsive liar. Finally, he is a slacker because he avoids work. Holden is just like countless people out there who do not apply themselves. You see, Holden could be smart. He could be successful. He just doesn’t have the motivation or ambition to do so.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is the story of a young man making his way through New York city, enduring hardship, and figuring out life along the way. Although the story focuses on Holden at this point in his life, the story also details events that have happened previously, throughout his childhood and adolescence. These events have been a part of the development of Holden as a character, and make up the reasons Holden behaves and does things a little differently than others. Holden Caulfield is a lonely person who becomes increasingly depressed throughout the story. He is also judgmental towards others and continuously lies as a form of entertainment.

J.D. Salinger, the author of the Catcher in the Rye, was a skilled writer. Salinger wrote about a wide variety of characters throughout this novel, many of these characters had a complex personality. Holden Caulfield is the main character in the Catcher in the rye. Holden is a unique character and he shares very little traits with the other people he encounters throughout the novel besides his younger sister, Phoebe. Holden and Phoebe Caulfield have two very different personalities but they share some distinct similarities. Holden is a gloomy, pessimistic, and unstable teenager. Phoebe, on the other hand, is a lively, optimistic, and innocent child. Throughout the novel Holden spends his time trying to act mature while Phoebe is living out the childhood he never had. Phoebe and Holden have very different personalities and outlooks on life. While the two have such opposing traits, they have a similar background and upbringing.

In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character of Holden Caulfield does not convincingly embody a compassionate and caring character. Holden, after having a difficult year at school, finds comfort in his memories of his brother Allie. Another instance of Holden finding comfort, is when he spends time with Phoebe. In the same way, Phoebe is supportive when spending time with Holden. However, this takes a turn for the worse, as Holden reveals to Phoebe that he is leaving. Holden finds comfort and love through his memories of Allie, his experiences with Phoebe and the support from he receives from her.

Younger siblings are commonly looked at as inexperienced , immature , and annoying . In the Catcher of The Rye , a novel by J.D Salinger , Holden Caulfield , the main character , challenges that stereotype when he describes Phoebe Caulfield , his ten year old younger sister. After getting kicked out of Pencey Prep , Holden Caulfield goes to New York . While in New York Holden gives a tour of the world through his lenses. He often describes everyone as phony and fake.

In J. D. Salinger’s novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the main character Holden has a sister named Phoebe who he seems to love very much, with him saying things like, “She’s really smart.” and that she was, “Somebody with sense and all.”. I believe these feelings are reciprocated, and perhaps even more so, by Phoebe, as shown in how she attempted to leave with Holden when he said he was going out of state at the end of “The Catcher in the Rye”. Holden’s response shows how he seems to value Phoebe as better and more worthy than himself, immediately exclaiming, “ No,” as soon as it was suggested, saying that he was going alone and then later changing that to neither of them going when he saw how upset she was. The following scene where Phoebe and

Holden Caulfield and Phoebe Caulfield are siblings in the novel The Catcher in the Rye. Being siblings, they have many similarities as well as differences. Holden is the main character in the novel, and the narrator of the story. Holden is writing from a mental hospital about his experience, “around last Christmas just before I got run down.” (Salinger, 1) He writes about his journey from Pencey Prep School, in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, to his home in New York City. Along the way he encounters many different important people to the story, one of the most important characters he encounters along the way is his sister Phoebe who teaches Holden what it means to be mature.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes about a troubled teen named Holden Caulfield, who underwent failing school, traveled through New York City at night, and met many people. Salinger depicts Holden as someone with uncontrollable anger, many anxieties, extreme loneliness, powerful love, and numerous fears. All of this mold Holden into a complex person with an unusual personality and unique traits that make him different from society and unable to accept or appreciate most of the people around him. There seems to be a strong connection between his speech, actions, and thoughts and his prominent personality traits: being judgmental, lonely, and unhappy.

My Patient, Holden Caulfield has a family of six including his parents and himself. He has a ten year old sister Phoebe, older brother D.B. a screenwriter at Hollywood, and a younger brother known as Allie who had died of leukemia around eleven years old. Holden had attended at four schools including Pencey prep and was later expelled for failing most of his classes except for english. “This is about the fourth school I've gone to. " I shook my head..."Boy!"(Salinger 9).

During the novel Catcher in the Rye, the reader finds out that characters Holden Caulfield and Phoebe Caulfield share many things in common and are different in many ways. As siblings, their overall appearance shows a resemblance of one another, but they have many physical traits that differ. Another thing that comes to mind is each character's personalities. There are one or two ways that the characters act like each, but for the most part, they lack similarities within their personalities. Lastly, when comparing the two characters we see how they perceive things in the novel. This is where the characters are most different from one another. In the novel Catcher in the Rye Holden and Phoebe possess similar qualities and different traits with one another in personality, physical appearance, and how they perceive things.

“Borderline personality disorder usually begins by early adulthood. The condition seems to be worse in young adulthood and may gradually get better with age”. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is narrated by a teenager named Holden Caufield, where he takes us on a journey from present to past. From writing in a mental hospital, he conveys everything that he has suffered through as he leaves Pencey to the unknown of living by himself. It may be said that he is just a teenager and cannot be diagnosed with an illness, but it is evident that he possess a condition as he states, “To feel some kind of good-by. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse” ( 7 ). This scene could be interpreted as ordinary teenage

Change is an essential component in the continued success of the human race and thus important in the development of society. As such, society expects people to constantly change and adapt. Readers typically expect to see the development of characters throughout novels, or other pieces of literature. In the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, J. D. Salinger deviates from the normal progression followed by most novels by characterizing the protagonist as an individual undergoing temperamental changes and uncertainty throughout the novel. This novel is known to have attracted criticism from numerous reviewers from all time periods, who tend to make the argument that the novel 's main protagonist, Holden Caulfield, does not develop at all throughout the course of the book. However, this is not the case as Holden grows and develops through the book, recognizing specific ideals from the environment that is around him and responding to them. These reactions towards change are seen through Holden 's discovery of himself, relationships with other characters and the actions that he decides to take in given circumstances throughout the book.